The corpse lying in the snow was almost frozen into a popsicle, but one could still vaguely make out what it looked like when it was alive. It was about forty or fifty years old, in the prime of his life; his facial features were still decent, and one could vaguely tell that he was a local. He was wearing thick fur and holding a short bow in his hand. At first glance, one could tell that he was a hunter from the area around Lantonilan.
Brando could actually already confirm the other party's identity, but before he could answer, Freya, who was squatting next to the corpse, said in a somewhat sad tone, "The fatal injury was an arrow wound in the back, just like the corpse we found before, but this one should have died at the time."
"— The wound on the corpse we found before should have also been inflicted around here, but the hunter's injury was relatively light. After he escaped from here, he was attacked by frost demons and finally died." Laurenna looked at the corpse in the snow and said with some indignation, "You nobles of Erouine are really too much."
"The nobles of Cruz are about the same. Besides, the identity of our enemy is first and foremost a cultist, and you have a part to play in this," the black-haired female Knight replied coldly from the side of the horse.
Laurenna glanced at her and managed to hold herself back from retorting.
"Actually, it's not unreasonable to say that," Brando thought to himself, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he raised his head and said to everyone, "If the battle happened around here, then this should have been Arreck's camp to begin with. Everyone, spread out and search left and right to see if you can find any clues."
Before he had finished speaking, as if to confirm his words, a whistle sounded in the forest. This was the signal that his guards had agreed to communicate with each other —
Everyone turned their heads in that direction and saw a girl on a white horse trotting all the way out of the forest. Hipamira was still wearing her linen robe in such cold weather. She turned around and pointed in a certain direction in the forest with the wooden staff in her hand. "Sir, there are many corpses found here."
"Arreck really did make a move." Maynild shook her head gently.
Freya's heart sank as she stood beside Brando. She couldn't help but grit her teeth. She still had a sliver of hope that she could save those hunters, but she didn't expect the other party to be so ruthless.
Beside her, the female Knight Laurenna did not look too good either.
"Take us there." Brando sighed and replied. He still remembered the worried and hopeful expressions of the hunters' families when they left Shallow Water Town. For these families, their husbands and fathers were probably the only pillars of the family. Once they lost their source of income, it was easy to imagine how they would live in the future. There were even some single-parent families, leaving behind only some helpless children. They waited at home for their father's return, but there was a possibility that they would not hear from him.
When he thought of this, he could not help but feel a chill in his heart.
Hipamira seemed to have seen through her lord's thoughts. As the Priestess of Himilud, she existed to protect the world. The girl was not the untainted Holy Maiden of the Holy Cathedral of Fire. She was well aware of the hardships of the people, so she could not help but lower her eyelashes slightly.
She pulled the reins, turned the horse's head, and led the crowd into the woods.
After passing through a small sparse cedar forest, the field of vision suddenly opened up, and an open space that was thought to have been cut down appeared in front of everyone. But when everyone saw the scene in front of them, they couldn't help but feel a little suffocated. The collapsed animal skin tents seemed to have remained the same as they did that day, and in this camp that seemed to have been trampled once, the tragic battlefield was restored in front of everyone.
More than twenty corpses were piled up in the center of the camp, and there were still some scattered around. There were eye-catching dried bloodstains everywhere in the snow, and broken arrows were stuck everywhere in the camp.
Brando saw Metisha's unicorn standing next to the pile of corpses, and the Silver Elf Princess held the ice and snow on the ground with both hands. The ice and snow instantly turned into crystal clear ice flowers in her hands. She placed these bouquets next to each corpse, looking very calm.
"My Lord," she saw Brando, patted the snow on her knees and stood up, "I remember in the last war, the Silver Elf Princess would give a lily of lilies to the Silver Elf Princess. The Silver Elves will give a bouquet of lilies to the companions of the brave warriors. The next time they go to the battlefield, the warriors will wear these flowers on their chests to avenge their fallen companions. "
Brando nodded.
"Don't worry, Arreck will pay the price for this. Some people regard other people's lives as ants, and these people have long been abandoned by Martha." He replied coldly, "Chaos can't protect them either. Just watch, the bloodshed will be repaid with blood."
"Is there anyone alive?" Laurenna couldn't help but gasp when she saw this scene and asked in a low voice. But anyone could hear that this upright and kind lady from Cruz was just suppressing her anger.
Metisha shook her head, "At least in this camp, they are all dead."
There was a slight silence in the camp.
Although Brando, Freya, Maynild, and even Scarlet had experienced many battles, and life and death on the battlefield had long been commonplace, but that was a fight where both sides bet on their lives. But in front of them was a naked massacre. These hunters from the area near Lantonilan each had their own families. They were the fathers, husbands, or sons of their families. They may have entered this forest with a vision for the future, but only to let their loved ones live a better life.
But all hope for the future was mercilessly snuffed out here. But only for the inexplicable pursuit of some people who didn't know how to respect life.
When Freya saw this scene, it reminded her of Bucce, which was burning fiercely in the fire. The kingdom's people struggled in the disaster, but his nobles just watched indifferently, and even added fuel to the fire.
Everything that happened at different times and different places was so similar.
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists so tightly that they almost turned white.
Laurenna on the side seemed to have noticed the mood swings of the future Valkyrie. She had a slight fondness for Freya in her heart and couldn't help but say, "Let's tidy up the bodies of the hunters. It's best to find a way to bury them and take them out when we leave here. At least their families have the right to know what happened here."
The words of the Knight from Cruz impressed Brando. Although he had long known that Laurenna was known for her integrity and kindness, she was still the daughter of a great noble family. He didn't expect her to be so thoughtful.
He looked at the other party in surprise. But as if noticing his gaze, Laurenna turned around and explained to everyone, "Knights respect their sacrificed companions. At least they won't let the bodies of their dead comrades be exposed in the wilderness. Although these people are not our companions, we promise to bring them back, dead or alive, at least to give their families an explanation. "
With one hand on her chest, she faced everyone and answered seriously, "I hope I can keep my promise."
"You're right, I support Sister Laurenna's view." Metisha couldn't help but nod slightly after hearing such words, expressing her support.
"Me too." Freya sighed softly and answered with a little loneliness.
Brando looked at the other side of the Nugan River. In fact, there wasn't much time left for them. Her Highness was heading to Fort Vallenden, and Eke and Makarov had obviously arrived first. And in the south, Count Randner and the Blood Staff's army were converging. From persuading Duke Viero to form an alliance to ambush Count Randner like in history, there was only a month left for him.
In other words, he could stay in the forest for at most two weeks.
The scorching summer sun, which had become very warm in the Stained Frost Forest, had moved over the middle line above his head. If he delayed any longer, he might have to spend the night here.
He looked at Maynild beside him. The female Knight neither agreed nor disagreed. But he had gradually become familiar with her personality these days, and he knew that this was actually a tacit agreement.
Brando finally nodded.
Fortunately, everyone present understood that they were pressed for time. Brando nodded and began to clean up the battlefield. With enough manpower, it wasn't difficult to dig some holes in the snow to bury the bodies. And because it was expected that the bodies of these hunters would be found and taken away sooner or later, under Laurenna's command, the guards only dug a few convenient holes, covered them with snow, and made conspicuous marks.
Others, such as Metisha and Freya, were looking for possible survivors further away. Although Brando didn't think the possibility was too high, he could see from the arrow wounds that Arreck had brought with him this time were all veterans who had followed him for many years. It was unlikely that they would make such a low-level mistake.
But just as Brando was thinking this, The Shire's voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
"My Lord, guess what I found?"
"What?" Brando was startled, and then asked.
"A woman."
"The Shire, although the weather here is still relatively cold, it's summer now, and spring has been long gone." Brando froze for a moment, and then replied somewhat angrily.
"No, no, you've got me wrong. My Lord, I mean I found a living woman. "The Shire hurriedly cried out his innocence.
… …
Peya was found in the Nuga River. The Shire happened to see her washed down from upstream with Drifting Ice and hung on a branch probing into the middle of the river.
In this weather, the temperature of the river was close to zero. When The Shire found the woman, she was almost drenched, soaked in the cold river water, and there was a long knife wound on her back. The knife wound seemed to be due to excessive blood loss, and the rolled flesh was soaked white.
Originally, in such a state, the young Wizard's first judgment was that the woman was dead, but the facts played a joke on him. When he fished her out of the middle of the river with a spell, he found that she still had a heartbeat.
And then, Peya already knew what happened after that.
But for the girl herself, she could not remember what happened before she jumped into the river. She only remembered that day when the nobles turned hostile, and the oldest hunter in the team was directly pierced by the middle-aged swordsman with a sword.
Then there was the melee, the flash of swords-
It was a terrible scene that only happened in a nightmare. The most powerful hunter in the team, who was said to have served as a swordsmanship instructor in the army in the Manoweir area, and a leader with Silver strength, was not a match for the middle-aged swordsman.
She would never forget that scene in her dreams. The noble Knight surrounded them with a grin, and then the familiar screams came one after another.
She remembered a Knight trying to hold her down and hold her hands behind her back. She remembered the other party's vulgar scolding and touching her unruly with his hands.
If it hadn't been for the ring, she really didn't know what terrible things would have happened after that.
What happened after that seemed to be running away, but the wound on her back hurt so much, and her body became weaker and weaker. But she was more and more worried about her brother. The pursuers were getting closer and closer, and then there was darkness.
"Can't die … …"
"Yaruta … …"
It was like a long nightmare, and every face in the nightmare was distorted. The townspeople who had hated the siblings had faces full of blood. Then there was the face of the grinning Knight. Finally, she saw her brother stabbed by a spear and nailed to the snow, and the dark red blood spread out from under him like countless tiny red snakes.
"No-!"
The girl opened her eyes abruptly.
She was sweating profusely, and then she saw a woman's face by the faint light of the fire outside the tent. She recognized the identity of the other party at a glance, as only the mountain people would have such fiery red hair. The girl hugged her knees and leaned on a spear, looking at her motionlessly.
"Who, who are you … …" Peya seemed to want to ask the question, but she immediately felt a burning pain in her throat. In the end, she only uttered some meaningless hoarse syllables, but the severe pain made her groan uncontrollably.
"The Lord said that you'd better not talk and rest more. You're badly hurt, but the point is that you've been unconscious in the cold river for who knows how long, and now you have a fever, but we don't have any herbs at hand. "
Scarlet rarely spoke in front of strangers since she left the Grey Wolves Mercenaries, but when she did, it was as if she was reciting a boring report, and she finished it all in one breath.
After she finished, she still looked at the woman on the bed quietly, her eyes reflecting the light of the fire outside and sparkling.
Peya was slightly startled, but she felt the other party's kindness. She lay back down, her heart in a mess, but finally quieted down a little.
She frowned slightly, as if trying to remember what had happened.
… …
(PS: Today, 7K. Again, I've been a little busy recently, and I can only make up for yesterday's loss bit by bit, so I'll make up for 1K today. I'll try to ensure a daily average of 6K by the 20th.) (To be continued. If you like this work, you're welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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